Sunday, 21 February, 2016, by Greyhound Racing Victoria

The old adage that a week is a long time in sport came to the fore when Dalgetty ($3.40Fav) took out Saturday night’s $145,000 Group 1 Temlee (525m) at The Meadows.

One of three Group 1 Invitationals run on Night One of the 2016 $1.3M Australian Cup Carnival, Dalgetty (pictured – yellow rug) was simply magnificent when leading virtually all the way from box five in a near track-record 29.42sec, less than a length outside Allen Deed’s 29.38sec time standard.

The win was a stark contrast to what occurred eight nights earlier when Thompson looked to have a mortgage on the Group 2 Shepparton Cup only for his three finalists (including the two favourites Aston Bolero and Dalgetty) to all miss a place.

“Nothing is for certain in racing. No matter how good your greyhound is, you still need an ounce of luck, especially when you are competing in big races,” Thompson said.

“He (Dalgetty) put himself in a really good position in the Shepparton Cup, but he found trouble and it was actually one of my own dogs (Aston Bolero) that collided with him, which was ironic…but that’s racing.”

He won by three lengths over the evergreen Above All (Robert Britton) and Shared Equity (Angela Langton).

“I said all week I was happy Dalgetty had box five. With the dogs drawn around him I just felt he was well drawn,” Thompson said.

Bred by Carole Brown and owned by the Veetee Living The Dream Syndicate, the son of Stagger and Rockin’ Along has won 14 races from 21 starts, while the $100,000 first prize took his career earnings up to $202,000.

“He (DALGETTY) put himself in a really good position in the Shepparton Cup, but he found trouble and it was actually one of my own dogs (ASTON BOLERO) that collided with him, which was ironic…but that’s racing” – JASON THOMPSON

This was Dalgetty’s third group win to go with his victory in the Group 2 Geelong Cup and Group 3 Silver Bullet.

One of greyhound racing’s most decorated trainers, Thompson now has his sights set on winning his first Australian Cup.

The Melbourne Cup (which Thompson has won three times), the Topgun (twice) and the Australian Cup are the three richest greyhound races in Victoria.

“I’ve had about half a dozen greyhounds that have run a place in the Australian Cup, but it’s one race I really want to win.”

“I’ll have about 10 greyhounds in next week’s heats including Dalgetty, Aston Bolero and Moreira, so I’ll have some quality entrants, but the competition is always strong in races like that,” he said.

Thompson said the Australian Cup Carnival was a particularly exciting time, and with opening night of the series also featuring the Group 1 Rookie Rebel (600m) and Group 1 Zoom Top (725m) it is something he always looks forward to.

“This is a night that every year as a trainer you look through your kennel and hope you have greyhounds that get selected in these three magnificent invitational races. It doesn’t get any bigger than having three Group 1 events on the one night,” the Pearcedale Trainer said.

This was the second Group 1 win for part-owner and prolific businessman, Vince Tullio of VT Group, one of the biggest plumbing and drainage companies in the state.

“I owned Blackalls Boss (trained by Michelle Mallia-Magri), who won the (Group 1) Hobart Thousand in 2012. We paid $30,000 for Dalgetty after he had only had three starts so we have been very fortunate,” Tullio said.

No Donuts (Zoom Top) and Dyna Double One (Rookie Rebel) were the other greyhounds to bask in Group 1 success on the night, and we now look forward to this Saturday night’s eight heats of the Group 1 Australian Cup (525m) as well as heats of the Group 1 Superstayers (725m).

The finals of those events will be held on Saturday 5 March at The Meadows, the third and final night of the 2016 $1.3M Australian Cup Carnival.